Coastal Conservation News Archive

A complete archive of our past news articles, beginning in Fall 2016; older articles from our previous website are available in the historical archive

Yaquina Bay, with Hatfield Marine Science Center in foreground. | Photo by Alex Derr. For the tenth year, CoastWatch is joining forces with the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) to sponsor the Sharing the Coast Conference, an annual cornucopia of information about coastal science, natural history, and shoreline monitoring. This year’s conference...Read more

Jordan Cove (middle ground to the left) from the air.\Photo by Rena Olson. There have been two important recent developments in the long, long struggle to prevent development of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit. The state’s Department of State Lands is currently considering the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s application for...Read more

A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia. CoastWatch celebrated its 25th anniversary year in 2018. As the final stage of this celebration, during the final quarter of the year we held a special kind of raffle to reward active mile adopters. Tickets couldn’t be bought, they had to be earned, with a ticket awarded for each CoastWatch...Read more

Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley. Just about three decades ago, Oregon Shores was actively engaged in a land use battle over plans for Coquille Point in Bandon, supporting a host of dedicated local residents. Many in city government were pushing for development, but citizen advocacy prevailed. Almost all of the potentially...Read more

Grey whale breaching. | Photo by Joe Morris Gray whales have the longest known migration of any mammal. They travel 10,000-12,000 miles round-trip every year between their winter calving lagoons in the warm waters of Mexico and their summer feeding grounds in the cold Arctic seas. Their nearshore migration route allows us to view them here on the Oregon coast...Read more

A specially designed map of the Oregon coast, focusing on conservation and public access, is now on sale. Oregon Shores collaborated with Raven Maps to create this custom, high-quality map of the entire Oregon coastal region. The project was initiated to honor the 50th anniversary of the Oregon Beach Bill in 2017, and was initially offered for $125. In...Read more

Spouting horn at Cape Perpetua.\Photo by Bonnie Moreland. For the first time in more than 20 years, Oregon is revisiting the state’s policies that protect our rocky shores. The current Rocky Shores Management Strategy, dating back to the 1990s, was never fully implemented, and existing regulations haven’t been revised in the face of growing population,...Read more

Whale fluke. | Photo courtesy of exploremanzanita.com Gray whales have the longest known migration of any mammal. They travel 10,000-12,000 miles round trip every year between their winter calving lagoons in the warm waters of Mexico and their summer feeding grounds in the cold Arctic seas. Their nearshore migration route allows us to view them here on the...Read more

Christmas lights at Shore Acres State Park.\Photo by Bruce Swenson. There are many ways to support Oregon Shores and coastal conservation. Perhaps somewhat counter-intuitively, one of those ways can be shopping. Both Amazon and Fred Meyer have community support programs in which Oregon Shores participates. In each case, purchases result in contributions to our...Read more

Coos Bay's entrance.\Photo by Alex Derr. "Hurry up and wait" is an old Army saying, and it fits the battle over the proposed Jordan Cove LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal. Oregon Shores, along with many allies, has been battling to prevent this threat to public health and safety and to the North Spit and Coos Bay estuary for more than a decade. Still...Read more